The Phantom
by TheDeepestDepths
Summary: What I think of the Phantom and why I think Christine made the right choice in choosing Raoul


**Disclaimer: I do not own the Phantom of the Opera.**

**AN: I am sorry if any of this comes off as me whining - that was not my intention. I simply had to get this off my chest and I figured Fanfiction was a good a place as any for it.**

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First off I have to say that I never read the book I am talking about the film solely here, with a few references to the books. So if you're going to complain and whine to me about what Leroux wanted or didn't want - don't bother. I don't care.

As a viewer watching the characters, the Phantom is obviously the more interesting and complex, and when I watch the film it's him I want on the screen. Raoul is just a ordinary person and has no dark twist to him which obviously makes him less fun to watch. However, if we are talking about the characters as people, and who is better for Christine, then Raoul is the obvious answer.

I'm going to start my defence with this simple statement: _Christine chose Raoul_. She is a grown woman and one would think she would chose, and would have the _right_ to chose, her own lover and the man who is best for her. You can disagree with her choice and say that if you were in her position you would chose differently, but in the end it was _her_ choice.

Secondly, in terms of a healthy relationship, the Phantom breaks several of the National Domestic Abuse warning signs, and it said that if even one is met chances are high that you are in an abusive relationship. I counted five, and those were the blatant ones. I could have missed a couple, I'm not an expert by any means on Domestic Abuse.

1)"Does he look at you or act in ways that scare you?" Christine frequently says how scared she is of the Phantom. Some of the incidents that stick out in my mind are the "Twisted every way" scene. She says things like "Raoul I'm frightened" "It scares me" "He'll take me, I know" "He won't let me go" "What I once used to dream I now dread". Does this sound healthy to anyone out there?

2)"Does he control what you do, who you see or talk to or where you go?" He tries to stop her from seeing Raoul and flies into a jealous rage when she makes plans to meet up with him. Does kidnapping her and saying he will kill her lover unless she decides to stay with him forever count as trying to control her actions? (If not, it falls under another point below).

3)"Does he stop you from seeing your friends or family members?" Raoul, again. He locks Christine's door to stop him getting in and her getting out of her room when she made plans to go out with him.

4)"Does he shove you, slap you, choke you, or hit you?" The phantom didn't do any of these, but he did kidnap her and drag her down to his lair.

5)"Does he threaten to kill you?" No, but he did threaten her and tell her that if she didn't marry him, he would kill the man she loved, all the while pulling on the noose around his neck. And he also sings "You will curse the day you did not do all that the Phantom asked of you" on the rooftop after eavesdropping on Christine and Raoul telling each other how much they love each other.

The Phantom also did many questionable things not on the list. For example, he led her to believe he was the ghost of her father, which was the reason she obeyed his every whim before she knew the truth. She even went to the extent of calling him "Master" and saying that she was "weak" for wanting to spend some time with Raoul. Also, who pretends to be a girl's dead father in order to make her fall in love with him? That's some creepy shit right there. And has no problem with her thinking he's her father when he's romantically in love with her.

Then then there was all the times he went around killing people for the heck of it. Piangi, for example. The only reason I could see for Piangi to be killed was because the Phantom wanted to sing the part of Don Juan. (Bearing in mind that the Phantom said earlier that Piangi had to lose weight because Don Juan wasn't as fat. Honestly Erik, make up your mind).

Also, I think Christine's feelings for the Phantom are expressed in the line "Have you gorged yourself at last, in your lust for blood? Am I now to be prey to your lust for flesh?" Here she is throwing the fact that he killed people in his face and is asking if he is going to rape her now. To me that doesn't sound like something you would say, or even think, about someone you loved. And notice he doesn't deny the rape accusation, he just blamed his face for everything he had done. "That fate, which condemns me to wallow in blood has also denied me the joys of the flesh ... this face - the infection which poisons our love ..." This scene is made even more twisted by the fact that the Phantom had forced her to change into a wedding dress. Honestly, this scene made me shudder in revulsion. Then there's the line "The tears I might have shed for your dark fate, grow cold and turn to tears of hate." Here she is saying the the Phantom has pushed her too far and she is no longer capable of feeling any sort of kind emotion toward him any longer, not even pity. He's hurt and tormented her too much and now all she can feel is hate.

Raoul, on the other hand has never done any of these things. He is the less interesting, less dark and mysterious character and he doesn't have the pitiful past that makes many people go "Aww". He is just a man who has loved her since childhood. But that doesn't mean he loved Christine any less than the Phantom and he seemed to have far more respect for her and her freedom than the Phantom ever expressed. This can be seen in the Phantom's lair toward the end of the film. The Phantom sings that he will kill her lover unless she binds herself to him and remains down in his lair with him forever (I doubt I need to quote this) while down there he also says "Pity comes too late. Turn around and face your fate. An eternity of this before your eyes" He's forcing her to spend the rest of her life around his face, which he himself cannot stand. The doesn't sound like love to me.

Besides, I am one of the few people who believes that the Phantom's past does not give him a free pass for all the things he's done. The fact his mother didn't love him does _not_ mean he gets to terrorize a girl, kidnap her and try and prevent her from seeing old friends. Having people mock him and treat him badly does _not_ mean he can just kill people because things aren't going his way. Having a deformed face does _not_ mean you can blackmail people. Quasimodo handled a deformed face without resulting to murderous hissy fits. (Yes, I am comparing The Phantom of the Opera to Disney, here. Deal with it).

Lastly, to all those people who think she should have stayed with the Phantom because she broke his heart by leaving, or that she owed him something because he taught her how to sing, or because he loved her deeply - it was not Christine's responsibility. She needs to do the right thing for her. She learned to sing because she believed the voice in the walls coaching her was the voice of her dead father, someone who she would naturally obey. Would she have obeyed had she known it was a complete stranger who had fallen in love with her? Someone she had never seen but knows to be a murderer? Unless a form of payment is agreed upon at the start, the service is for free. It is not fair on Christine to say "Well I taught you to sing, so now you have to stay here in this cave with me and love me forever." Especially when she thought is was her father, who would have done it for free. Anyway, she was breaking somebody's heart down there in that cave, why should it have been Raoul's? She chose Raoul, so clearly she wants to be with him more and she does not under any circumstances have to bind herself to a man because he would be hurt if she left. The fact that he had a horrible past and she was the only thing that made him happy? Not her problem, and very unfair to her - she didn't ask to be the sole source of his happiness. Again, I say, that fact that someone loves you does not mean you have to stay with them.


End file.
